nicoleta sava

The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to review the acts from Moldova’s O melodie pentru Europa 2018. Next we listen to Ilia Sorocean and Dasha DaGro‘s pop duet “Minds and veins” and to Nicoleta Sava‘s “La esencia del sur”.

Ilia Sorocean and Dasha DaGro – “Minds & Veins”

Antranig: This is a duet with surprisingly successful harmonising. Ilia and Dasha sound outstanding when singing together and the chorus is brilliant. The chorus is followed by an interesting instrumental with some repetitive lyrics which make it quite memorable. Overall, this is a quality entry for Moldova and it exceeds my expectations.

Score: 7.5/10

Bogdan: I never understand why they don’t sing in their mother tongue when English isn’t their strong suit. The song is cool and radio-friendly and would have sounded so much better in Romanian. As it stands, it’s a good effort, but unfortunately it’s wasted because of the questionable lyrics and poor enunciation.

Score: 6.5/10

Kristin: The buildup here is pleasantly surprising and the sound is modern and fresh. Ilia and Dasha are definitely strong contenders for Moldova and although they might not reach the same status as Sunstroke Project, should they win O melodie, they would most likely advance to the finals and finish in a respectable placing. I’d say that Moldova could be on to something good here.

Score: 8/10

Luis: This entry is surprisingly contemporary. Normally, Moldovan duos are snoozefests about love or about love, love, peace, peace but this is rather likeable, powerful and it kind of works. Ilia and Dasha need to improve a bit their chemistry, but this is a very good effort nonetheless.

Score: 6/10

Robyn: “Minds and Veins” is a modern pop duet that works really well. The vocals are strong and extravagant, but they are tempered by the cool tropical house production. But it’s all going to depend on the live production. A recent television appearance shows Ilia and Dasha ignoring each other for much of the performance when there should be chemistry.

Score: 7/10

In the Moldovan Wiwi Jury, we have 10 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Aline: 3/10

Barnabas: 2/10

Bernardo: 5.5/10

Jonathan: 6/10

Lukas: 6.5/10

 

 

 

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 2 and a high of 8.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 6/10

Nicoleta Sava – “La esencia del sur”

Antranig: Pack a beach bag and head from Moldova to Málaga. A taste of Spanish is refreshing even though it may be completely predictable in the 2018 national final season. This may buy into the “Despacito effect” but aside from the choice of language, the song is very different. I can’t see it doing well in the national final but it is an enjoyable summer break packed into three minutes.

Score: 6.5/10

Bogdan: Let’s not kid ourselves. It may be cute, but “La esencia del sur” is essentially a dated song performed by a lady who has neither the stamina nor the Spanish accent to pull it off. I like the parts when she doesn’t sing — the backing track is beautifully produced — but that’s about it.

Score: 4/10

Kristin: Oh, that was so enjoyable! Cheesy indeed but entertaining in all its old fashion “J-Lo’s rejection project” glory. If Nicoleta shows up on stage, wearing a flamenco dress, accompanied by dancers dressed as matadors, I will be so unbelievably happy that I might just burst. With all these Latin-themed songs found in various national finals this year, “La esencia del sur” is definitely in the better half, if only for its immense entertainment value.

Score: 8/10

Luis: This is so bad I’m almost crying of joy. Look, a whole country would die if we hear the Moldovan act in Lisbon yelling “ay, dame ese ritmito sensual” (come on, give me that sensual rhythm). Nicoleta brings us a taste of the early noughties’ summers in Spain and it’s absolutely wonderful. I don’t know what’s best about it: that she sings about feeling the “essence of the south” when it’s -12ºC in Chisinau or the fact that this song has been written by Spaniards. But Nicoleta, we Spaniards MOVE. Not that we’re the best dancers in the world, but we’re quirky at least. And you’re moving less than a column.

Score: 8/10

Robyn: I feel a little sorry for the good people of Spain. Eurovision spends decades all but ignoring Spanish, then suddenly along comes a monster truckload of the most delightfully trashy Spanish grooves. “La esencia del sur” is one of the best because a) it’s not trying to sound like “Despacito” (or anything from the past 15 years, really) and b) it’s just really enjoyable. A little sunshine for Moldova to enjoy.

Score: 7.5/10

In the Moldovan Wiwi Jury, we have 10 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Aline: 6/10

Barnabas: 5/10

Bernardo: 1.5/10

Jonathan: 6/10

Lukas: 7/10

 

 

 

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 1.5 and a high of 8.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 6.25/10

See our list of O melodie pentru Europa 2018’s rankings here

READ MORE MOLDOVA NEWS HERE

7 Comments
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AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

“Minds and veins”: One of the few songs I like. Nice beat, sounds modern in a way. 7/10
“La esencia del sur”: Another “Despacito” influence here. Sounds so spanish at the beginning. Nice try. 5/10

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Robyn said “I feel a little sorry for the good people of Spain. Eurovision spends decades all but ignoring Spanish, then suddenly along comes a monster truckload of the most delightfully trashy Spanish grooves.”

And that highlight all my feelings with this year’s NF season. At least, “La esencia del Sur” is funny, but still a crime against Spain. It’s cheap and dated, her Spanish accent is bad and her attitude is a nonsense. Dance, move or something, darling.

As a joke it’s ok, but this shouldn’t win.

Currikitaum
6 years ago

As a Spaniard I need this song in Eurovision. Slay them Nicoleta, we need you in Lisbon!

James
James
6 years ago

At least we know Mandinga with “Zaleilah” was way ahead of the pack. 🙂

Hada
Hada
6 years ago

I saw Nicoleta’s performance of La Esencia del Sur (and almost all comments were from Spanish people!) and it was mostly okay, right until the part where she starts yelling “arriba arriba, ándele ándele” or whatever. I’d cry of joy if we saw “ese ritmito sesual” in Lisbon.

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

Minds and Veins – the energy is good, it turns out okay – 6/10

Esencia del Sur – cheap, but I agree that a Spanish song from a non-Spanish country would be a hoot – 5/10

Tu cancion
Tu cancion
6 years ago

If Nicoleta’s song was submitted from Spain people would hate it, including myself (and I’m Spanish) but it’s really funny coming from Moldova. I wish she wins.